/*
 *  Copyright 2009 Ancora Research Group.
 * 
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * 
 *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 * 
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 *  limitations under the License.
 *  under the License.
 */

package org.ancora.MicroblazeInterpreter.HardwareBlocks.Processor;

import org.ancora.MicroblazeInterpreter.Instructions.Instruction;

/**
 * Represents the clock of the processor.
 *
 * @author Joao
 */
public interface Clock {

    /**
     * Advances the state of the processor, depending on the instruction.
     * 
     * @param instruction
     */
    public void step(Instruction instruction);

    /**
     * Returns the total latency, in cycles, registered by the clock until now.
     * 
     * @return
     */
    public int getLatency();
}
